Just like Mom made

Fresh Made Cherry Jam

The older I get, the more I appreciate how I was raised. (Yes, Mom it's true) I was just having lunch with a friend today and telling her about growing up on the farm, raising cows, pigs and goats, and growing our own vegetables. It amazes, and at the same time does not surprise me how unheard of it is these days. I feel lucky to have had such a unique experience growing up.

My classmates were surprised when I told them my parents did not buy me play dough to have as a child, even though I wanted it. Instead I got to make cookies in any shape I wanted and decorate them with homemade frosting. My siblings and I always looked forward to dying eggs to go in our yearly Easter Bread. Pie crust scraps were salvaged and coated in cinnamon and sugar and devoured as soon as they were cool enough from the oven. Yes, I did have toys, but most of them encouraged creativity instead of providing entertainment for short attention spans. The kitchen and the great outdoors took turns as my playground, and many childhood memories are food related.

When applying for school, I had to write a short essay about a food memory. The first thing that came to mind was making Apple Butter with my Mom. My mother canned as much as she could, tomatoes, apple sauce, apple butter, jellies, beans, sauces. It brought back many memories of late summer days in the kitchen; it was canning time. This Monday's class was focused on making jellies and jams, and I could not help but think about those memories again.

My classmates and I made about 15 different jams and spreads all together. Some as basic as Cherry and some more involved like Apple Walnut, or Ginger Pear. I made the cherry. It was always one of my favorites that Mom made. (I even have a jar of her Cherry jelly she gave me at Thanksgiving. I could do a little taste test, see if mine compares to hers.) I also made Quince spread and Apricot with Vanilla and Almond. I haven't tried them yet. I need to make a good batch of bread first.

Jellies and jams are actually pretty easy to make. They take basic ingredients; fruit, sugar, water, some lemon juice, and in some cases extra pectin. The trick is cooking them long enough so that they jell just right. Then you have to make sure you sterilized all the jars and equipment for canning if you want to keep the fruits of your labor for longer than a few weeks in your fridge. I found the process of making the jellies a little monotonous and not as exciting as some of the other classes I've had. As always, I did learn a few things, but I don't see myself becoming a professional jam/jelly maker any time soon. I'll save it for the late summer when I buy a large bag of apples or come across a large quantity of fruit that needs saving. Or maybe I'll go visit Mom.

Tuesday evenings class involved making custards and Bavarian creams. Which meant more delicious tarts and lots of mousse. We made two cakes with Dacquoise we had frozen from last week. One cake called the "Brazilian", was layers of white chocolate mousse and coffee mousse separated by Walnut Dacquoise, topped with a coffee glaze and then I coated the sides with Mille-Feuille flakes and garnished it with Walnut pieces. The second cake was a "Ruche" cake; translated from French: Beehive. This cake contains lemon and honey mousses separated by Almond Dacquoise. We topped it with Meringue Italian and torched it to give the meringue a nice golden color. I tried both cakes tonight. The Ruche was good, but I found the Honey mousse a little over powering. The Brazilian cake was fantastic and much appreciated by my brother and my roommates. I also made Flan, but our Chef instructor for the night ate it before I could get a photo. He said it was perfect, so I guess I forgive him.

The Brazilian

La Ruche